Polished answers to a heretical question on the sidelines
23/10/2026
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Michael Restin
For AN0NÜMU5 and anyone who wants to label clothes, I am reaching for the iron-on tape again. The TZe-FA3 from Brother fits into the label printer and is spat out printed – but it is not the best choice everywhere.
I felt a bit proud once I had finished labeling a whole stack of children's clothes with name tags. Using a solution that I found brilliant: the Marky clothing stamp. I just had to insert the letters with tweezers, stamp as precisely as possible, and iron for a few seconds. It looked a bit homemade, but it still holds up excellently to this day. So, I wrote about it.
The reactions were mixed: there was interest and alternative ideas. "Too much effort for me, I'll keep ordering ready-made labels," commented Graf Zahl. Hmm, true. That works too. "I've switched to using a fabric marker because the effort is just much lower," came from Kevinkevin. The scrawly-handed lefty in me doesn't want that. And then there was AN0NÜMU5, whose comment made me slap my forehead with the palm of my hand.
There's something from Brother? I love Brother! And I had no idea that a cassette with iron-on tape for my label maker existed. If it works just as well, I can retire Marky. AN0NÜMU5 doesn't even need to encourage me further to test it – the tape is being ordered and ironed on.
What the Brother tape promises
Two things strike me immediately. Irrelevant: The product named TZe-FA3 could also be a brother of Elon Musk's son X Æ A-Xii. Possibly relevant: It is much thinner than the tape without a name that comes with the Marky clothing stamp. This makes it significantly more flexible. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen. The package includes instructions in refreshingly error-free German. Among other things, I learn:
- Correctly ironed-on labels can be "washed more than 30 times" at under 80 degrees; bleach attacks the color.
- The best results are on smooth, heat-resistant surfaces like cotton, linen, or cotton-polyester blends. The tape does not adhere perfectly to coarsely woven surfaces.
- When ironing, I should press down firmly: 10 to 15 seconds at 160 to 180 degrees through an old piece of fabric activates the adhesive bond. Standard.
Some passages are underlined. I am supposed to cut the tape with scissors because the label maker's cutting device can't handle it. Not true, it works fine for me.
The next underlined passage seems more important to me: After cooling, I should press on the left and right edges for another 10 to 15 seconds. If the corners come loose after washing, the same trick can help. I am curious and start with a personal message to my client – in the hope that it is correct.
The first attempt ends disappointingly
The 100 percent cotton of my Galaxus T-shirt should be a suitable base according to the instructions. The first impression after ironing is good: the color looks rich, the tape seems to have fused with the fabric, the edges are set. At least until the first wash. After a round in the spin cycle, the edges have already loosened alarmingly.
With synthetic sportswear, which is not as heat-resistant and trickier to iron, a similar picture emerges – the first impression is top-notch, as if the manufacturer had printed the label themselves.
However, the Brother labels peel off faster during washing than I am used to with Marky.
The items labeled with the stamp and iron-on tape have certainly been through more than 30 wash cycles and are still holding up. The labels are a bit washed out at the edges, and the adhesive layer is visible next to them.
This adhesive layer seems thicker to me than with Brother; the TZe-FA3 adheres more like transparent adhesive tape and likes it smooth. Perhaps this is a necessary compromise so that three meters of tape fit on a cassette and can be guided through the mechanism without incident.
Coarse fabrics and tape waste
If a Brother label starts to come loose, I can iron it on again or peel it off almost residue-free. On coarser fabrics, the latter is the better option – the adhesive doesn't manage to get deep enough into the fabric. To be fair: Brother points this out. But it is a difference from my other tape.
There is also much more waste: even if I choose chain printing, a few unprinted centimeters of tape come out at the beginning of the tape. I could make at least two more labels with the stamp from that every time.
So, enough complaining. Used correctly, the TZe-FA3 gets the job done.
Under these conditions, Brother holds well
Maybe I did something wrong. Surely the iron-on tape is not intended for whole sentences. But even when I only print names, I notice that the size of the label remains a tricky point. The fibers of my cotton T-shirt are just as stretchy as the sportswear. If I pull them apart a little, the tape doesn't go along with it. It sounds like I'm tearing off a bandage. If it has only come loose in a small spot, that is the beginning of the end.
Sportswear and children's clothing are tugged and pulled. When I pull my T-shirt over my head, I also stretch it a little. In all elastic garments, I therefore take care to offer as little surface area as possible for the forces. I only print in the smallest font and in two lines, which keeps the labels compact. The result is better and passes the pull test without any problems. On firm fabrics like lab coats, even longer labels would certainly hold long-term.
Brother labels nicer, Marky is more versatile
Naturally, I cannot draw a long-term conclusion for the Brother TZe-FA3 yet. If this text were a review, I would give it three stars. The tape does roughly what it promises and has no problems on smooth, less elastic fabrics.
If you already have a suitable label maker, the iron-on tape is a good option. I wouldn't buy one just for that. After all, it is not as versatile and productive as I would like it to be. In these points, Marky is superior, with which I can also stamp directly onto light-colored fabrics.
For iron-on labels, I end with a general tip that also applies to guide texts: keep them as short as necessary.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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